Ritchie Blackmore

British guitarist Ritchie Blackmore started out as a session player and then was a co-founder of the hard rock group Deep Purple in 1968.

Richard Hugh Blackmore was born on April 14, 1945 in Weston-super-Mare; he moved to Heston, Middlesex at the age of 2. His father bought him his first guitar when he was about 10 years old in 1955 and he then took some classical guitar lessons.

After Deep Purple Blackmore formed another well-known progressive-metal/hard rock band called Rainbow. His current venture is quite different (but also extremely successful), as he teamed up with Candice Night to create the Renaissance-style group Blackmore's Night.